#nina the killer but in my style

[banemaus]

i lied im not going to bed until you all see that i sketched nina (again ^_^)

[strawberri-acidd]

H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N

halloween creep piece for u guys!! I’m very excited I’m being the mangle tonight bc of the fnaf movie release and plus I wanted to redo my 5th grade costume :333

[bluedishsoap]

everybody meet vivica!!! (she/her & it/its)

i'm distancing my interps from creepypasta and will be using them as my own characters.. i'll still be using creepypasta tags occasionally just because getting traction otherwise seems daunting (and also because she would probably get recognized as nina the killer here regardless)

CW: versions with drawn wounds under the cut

since this is a redraw of something from 2019 where she had the smile wound i wanted to make a version including it. the t shaped wound is what i decided on for viv's current canon

[thelamb1429]

Decided to redraw my 2021 self-sona or whatever it’s called in my new artstyle

Here’s the old drawing for reference. I drew my new self-sona beside the old one to compare :D

Here they are :D!! Took me quite a while and now i’ve got a headache :/

ALSO!!

LISTEN TO ME BEFORE YOU COMMENT.

On the new one, those are STRETCH MARKS. NOT $H!!! I got stretch marks since i last drew a self-sona and wanted to add them to the new one.

Ik tumblr probably wouldn’t care but i’m used to people pointing it out anyway 😀

[k1tt13sbl0g]

Nina! <3

[2laffy2]

Nina the killer

[bittersweetresilience]

ANSWERS TO AUTHOR GUESSING GAME

1: me (bittersweetResilience)

2: @consistent-chaos-corporation (TrishaCollins)

3: @paracosmicfawn (paracosmicfawn)

4: @ninadove (NinaDove)

5: @wackus-bonkus-maximus (wackus_bonkus)

6: @ultear-tigra (Ultear_Tigra)

7: @keeperofthebox (gentlefist)

After the Diamonds' Dance, Félix makes it to sunrise.

A collaborative story by, in no particular order, @ninadove, @consistent-chaos-corporation, @ultear-tigra, @wackus-bonkus-maximus, @keeperofthebox, @paracosmicfawn, and me.

[yeitsre]

TW BLOOD

Nina The Killer Fanart

(+mood board and some writing)

I must say that I loved how this turned out and the vibe it gives, I decided to draw my own version and the Og design together for the sillies.

I really like the hair and the strap shirt ngl

Mood Board

(All pictures were taken off Pinterest)

I wanted the mood board to represent not only her physical appearance but also be intone with her personality in regards of my "au".

Overview + some notes

Nina Hopkins was utterly obsessed with the macabre tales she found on the internet, constantly immersing herself in stories of horror. Her fascination reached new heights when she discovered a notorious killer, whose dark deeds captivated her every thought. However, her obsession quickly turned dangerous. Meeting her idol for the first time shattered her, leading to a rapid descent into madness. Subjected to strict supervision and spontaneous therapy sessions, Nina's admiration turned into a burning desire for revenge. She vowed to make the one who shattered her sanity pay for the torment inflicted upon her.

She is in her late twenties (one of the "youngest" and last creepypastas that are registered)

I decided to fuse both versions of her story (the first one and the 2021 remake).

her obsession about Jeff shifted to loving him into hating him and she is currently hunting him down.

her makeup is important, not only does it meant to vaguely emulates a clown (a representation of her own depiction) but it's also suppose to make fun of the goth style by combining neon and overall scene makeup look, the reason why she does this is to make fun of Jane ( who in my version is gothic) because of her rivalry.

As a matter of fact, she does not know or has not met many of the "older" creepy pastas, nor is she interested in them (this actually includes Slenderman).

Omg idk where the Inspo came from but I am bored lol, anyways, I haven't uploaded anything here for a long time and it is crazy.

[mouwrites]

Creepypasta/MH - How They Would Welcome You Back (after not seeing you for a while)

Characters: Nina the Killer, Jeff the Killer, Eyeless Jack, Tim/Masky, Jane the Killer

Nina

Shouts your name when she sees you, and BOLTS into you

She crashes against you, almost losing her balance from the sheer force

Her arms are flung around you, pinning your own arms to your sides with surprising strength

"Eek! Y/n! Aah... I missed you so much!"

She giggles as she finally lets you go, settling her hands on your shoulders while she looks at you with a huge smile

She compliments your appearance eagerly, and blushes when you do the same

She can't stop giggling throughout the whole process though

Literally nonstop... but she's just so happy!!

Normally she'd suggest a more exciting hangout, like stalking people at the mall or... y'know... putting the laughter in slaughter or smth legal activities

But this time she just wants to stay home and hold you :3

And maybe watch a movie with ice cream too!

Jeff

Pretends to be all nonchalant about it

"Oh, you're back. Hey."

Especially if others are around

But his eyes keep lingering on you, and though you're across the room it feels like he's looming over you

His presence is just so..... unsettling? Like, more than usual lol

Bro's just watching so closely

It'd make anyone nervous, but if you're dating Jeff you're definitely crazy enough not to be too disturbed

Because you know what's actually waiting for you when you're alone

Not murder, but:

He throws an arm around your shoulder and another under your knees, scooping you up wordlessly

Then it's cuddle time :]

He'll be doing something else while you cuddle, and he won't say anything, but if you try to move or get up he'll glare daggers at you

In his mind, you're making up for lost time together

Eyeless Jack

He'd have been waiting for your return

No matter how long he had to wait, he was always ready

Clean home (well, as clean as a cannibalistic demon's home can be), hot food ready, fluffy blankets on the bed...

So when you finally do come, he gets straight to the point

The point being spoiling you ofc

He loves taking care of you; that's his way of showing affection

So he's just excited to finally do that again!

He wouldn't have given you any physical affection when seeing you I think

The most he'd have done would've been to grab your hand to lead you along

"Y/n! I'm so glad to see you again... come on, everything's ready for you."

Tim/Masky

He's dumbfounded when he sees you again

Like, he just blinks at you

It's as if he never expected you to return :(

"Y/n..?"

Then he pulls you into a hug, finally processing the fact that you're there

The same smell of cigarettes and coffee fills your nose, and you breathe it in deeply

(He's lowkey doing the same with your smell)

The hug finishes with one more super-tight squeeze, then he pulls away to look at your face

"Hey."

He's so smooth guys <3

But on a real note, he's just so surprised to see you; he doesn't know how to react

Trust me though, he's never letting you go again

Jane

I think she'd have something planned too

So when she sees you again, she gets really excited

She tries to keep it somewhat cool though, greeting you warmly with a kiss on the cheek and a hug

But you can tell she's trying not to act excited... she's rocking on her heels way more than "usual" (never)

Finally she tells you to close your eyes, and you can really tell she's excited now

She puts something in your hands and kisses you on the mouth

When you open your eyes, you see a jewelry box in your hand

It's your favorite form of jewelry (ring, necklace, bracelet, anklet, etc) in your favorite gemstone/color!!

She loves seeing you wear the things she gets you, especially when she puts so much thought into them

Just like she did this time ;3

Bit of a different style from the other one, but here we go!! Thank you so much for reading, take care my duckies! <3

(divider by saradika)

[seireitonin]

I feel like we don’t talk about how Creepypasta is deeply connected emo/ scene culture. If you read fics from 2016 back you’ll see that a lot of the “y/ns” are emo/ scene girls. Jeff the Killer especially was an emo icon which is why he’s a cute emo guy in a lot of fan art and has a lot of scene kid art style art. It’s no coincidence that Toby’s “theme song” back in the day was “Dont You Dare Forget The Sun” by Get Scared. Also no coincidence that Sarcasm by Get scared was the “theme song” for Creepypasta characters in general. If you look at me and other emo girls today we’re most likely like/ liked Creepypasta. To this day I remember all the mansion fics with emo girl y/ns. Also no coincidence that the character made to represent the fandom, Nina, is an emo girl or at least emo inspired and ppl draw her scene/ emo in fanart. Her and Jeff were always drawn as emo boyfriend and scene girlfriend. God I love how my two favorite things collide. Feel free to add on more stuff! This is off the top of my head. :3

[homicidal-slvt]

Your First Valentine's Day Together

-

MDNI

-

Creepypasta Head-Canons

-

GN/Reader

Warnings: None

-

Jeff The Killer

Forgot it was valentine's day and last minute grabbed something from the gas station. Thinks most Valentine's stuff is over priced and cheesy anyway.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Y/N." "Is this... A bag of chips..?"

Jane The Killer

Absolutely loves spoiling you and doing cute things for you, so there's a day dedicated to that??? Sign her the fuck up! She arranges to take you to a cute cat cafe and insists on paying for everything, seeing you smile is worth every penny.

"Jane you really didn't have to do all this!" "I just love making you smile."

Nina The Killer

Best. Day. Ever. She will be so excited to surprise you with a bunch of clothes she ordered online that's your style! Doesn't want to get any stereotypical things for you for Valentine's, only stuff she knows you'll enjoy.

"Ahhh! Y/N look at this cute shirt I bought you! I can't wait to see you wear it!~" "Another one???"

Toby Rogers

Is bouncing off the walls excited for Valentine's Day. Is VERY cheesy about it and probably absolutely buries you in every cute stuffed animal he could find. Will curl up and watch cheesy romance movies with you all day while munching on the chocolates he got for you.

"Y/N! Y/N!" "OH MY GOD TOBY IS THAT A GIANT GIRAFFE PLUSHIE?!?"

Clockwork

Teases you if you want to celebrate Valentine's Day, calling it cheesy and too lovey dovey. However secretly she loves it, but she's not going to tell you that- at least not yet. So, you're in charge of planning your date together.

"Oh really? You go for that cheesy crap?" "Come onnn! It will be fun! Please!"

Eyeless Jack

Jack doesn't get many chances to act like just a person anymore, so when Valentine's Day rolls around he wants to take the chance to just act like a normal couple would. He plans a quiet dinner just you two in his room, enjoying feeling human again. Just for today- you are just two people in love.

"Do you like the candles, Y/N?" "I love them. It's perfect."

Laughing Jack

This clown has no earthly idea what he's doing. He just straight up throws you a "Valentine's Party" like it's a birthday. It's sweet though. He's trying his best- even though he invited everyone so you two don't really get any time alone.

"Surprise Y/N!!!" "AH! Is that heart shaped confetti?!?"

Ben Drowned

Simply plans a gaming date for the two of you with lots of gummy worms. This really is just a normal day with him but he claims it's special because he won't hog all the gummies this time.

"C'mon! It'll be fun! Why go out when we can just stay right here?" "Fine... Move over."

Hobo Heart

Tries to plan something special for you two but has no idea what to do. He just wants you to love it! Finally settling on just a nice quiet coffee/tea date with just you and him. Cuddled up in the library reading books.

"Romance or Fantasy, Y/N?" "Why not both?"

Slenderman

Doesn't fully understand the concept of the holiday but isn't going to pass up a chance at treating you. He plans a lovely romantic evening in the underworld with dinner and wine. The man is a complete gentleman.

"Is this alright, Y/N?" "It's wonderful."

Zalgo

You want to spend Valentine's Day? With him? He finds the idea amusing at first but finally gives in, taking you out on the town in the underworld. Showing you off and buying you fancy clothes.

"Everything simply looks stunning on you!~" "Oh hush..."

Nathan The Nobody

He hasn't the faintest clue how to celebrate Valentine's Day with you but he knows he wants too. He simply comes to you and asks what you'd like to do.

"Want to just watch movies together?" "I'd like that very much, Y/N...."

The Puppeteer

Brushes off Valentine's Day. What's the point in something like that? You already have the perfect gift, getting to spend time with him! What more could you want???

"Pup, please!!! I just want to do something fun with you!" "This IS fun!"

Judge Angels

Takes the holiday very seriously, almost too serious! She insists she must make it absolutely perfect for you because you deserve it. Expect a fancy date and lots of dancing lessons, she loves dancing with you.

"Take my hand, Y/N." "You really went all out, didn't you?"

Bloody Painter

He makes you both some tea and you two spend a whole day in his studio. Laughing and cracking jokes while he paints a portrait of you, even offering to give you painting lessons. You just enjoy a lovely date full of giggles and messy paint.

"Aw, Y/N. You got paint on your nose." "Oops-"

Nurse Ann

She doesn't really talk much so she expresses her love for you through lots of hugs and attention. Quality time means the world to her so you two end up in the kitchen cooking together, after all a meal always tastes better if it's made with love.

"....." "I love you too, Ann."

Kate The Chaser

She doesn't exactly celebrate the holiday. She kind of just awkwardly offers you whatever she found in the pantry and hangs out with you for the day. It takes a long time for her to open up.

"Thank you, Kate." "..... No problem."

Homicidal Liu

He loves you dearly and wants you to always know that. He plans a beautiful picnic date at night, that way you two can gaze at the stars and tell each other what you see. Expect a dance in the moonlight, the crickets serving as your symphony. It feels like it's just the two of you in the world.

"This is so beautiful, Liu." "Almost as beautiful as you."

-

{More Content}

[skinwalker-bratz]

Creepypasta coquette au 🎀

🔪 | Jeff the killer

He wears a light pink sweatshirt with bows decorating the sleeves.

His knife has pink bows on the handle.

He doesn't get blood on himself, that's not delicate

"close your eyes, darling 🎀"

🦇 | Jane the killer

She still has a gothic vibe so it's dark coquette.

She has white bows decorating her curly hair, and wears a ruffled black dress with white bows and long white tights with mary JANE shoes and a pearl necklace.

her mask has light makeup and is scented with the scent of roses.

"don't close your eyes, darling 🎀"

🫀 | Eyeless jack

He has long braids decorated with bows, to hide his scars he wears light makeup and takes care of his appearance.

His medical kit is pink and he performs surgeries as delicately and precisely as possible, and he eats kidneys on a plate with a knife and fork without getting dirty.

He usually wears pink and white and his mask is always clean. (He also painted it pink.)

"harvesting organs is so coquette 🎀"

🎮 | Ben drowned

Don't like violent games, that's not coquette.

He always plays a female character and wears pink gear.

The clothes are delicate and in light tones, his hair is long and braided with bows holding it back.

"you have found a dreadfully charming fate 🎀"

🕑 | Clockwork

She wears a pink vintage clock on her eye.

She doesn't swear and is rude, that's not a lady's attitude.

She wears a pink coat with white fur, a white skirt with ruffles, black shoes with white delicate lace socks.

"your time has arrived, darling 🎀"

🪓 | Ticci toby

Wearing a white wool coat and jeans decorated with pink bows and pink sneakers, he takes a shower every day.

Their axes have pink ribbons decorating the handles.

He is very polite and if he says something bad with a tic, he will apologize.

"why bother socializing when I have voices in my head for company? 🎀"

🎀 | Nina the killer

She has some light pink streaks in her hair and a big bow decorating the back. Wears pearl necklace and bracelet, delicate white coat with decorative bows with a light pink shirt underneath, light pink skirt with ruffles, white leg warmers with black shoes.

She likes light and delicate makeup in pastel shades of pink, her nails are French style and are always trimmed and painted.

She doesn't chase Jeff, she prefers to use her charm to attract men.

"let me take you to the dreamland, my prince 🎀"

🌲 | Slenderman

He stalks people and turns them into his coquette proxies.

Instead of a suit he wears a white blouse with a black vest with pink bows and tie.

When a person is infected by it, that person starts to feel the desire to take care of themselves and act in a more polite and delicate way, gaining a taste for pink things, bows and pearls.

"Humans must learn to be more coquette 🎀"

[strawberri-acidd]

yes they’re killers but they also have their moments

[dolly-gutzz]

Hunter Sylvester x fem!reader

what it’s like dating Hunter Sylvester

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

Will drill you on metal knowledge cuz it’s his hyperfixation

like you will know just as much as he does by like the second week of dating

height difference go brrrrr

fore head kisses go crazy

is a softie but doesn’t want to be

like will beg for cuddles, cuddle you and then halfway through cuddling, will gain conciseness and push you away

(then he’ll feel rlly bad and cuddle you ten times harder)

sleepovers 🔛🔝‼️

he has such a huge and beautiful house that you insist on staying there 24/7

I mean he has all the good snacks and such a comfy bed, why wouldn’t you want to stay over for eternity??

night long car rides!!

Omg I can just imagine driving at night in like a downtown area and just talking about life and your future together

then you guys make out in his car

speaking of make outs, he does not know how to do that when you guys first start dating

like pretty boys clueless

you teach him the littlest amount of basic info

omg I can just see him like being a nerd a writing down all of the stuff your saying 😭😭

He’s literally like 🤓✍️

Sitting in at band seshes

you and Emily are besties

helping him write his songs

(there are like fifteen songs he’s written about you)

sitting on his lap whilst he writes songs

or sitting on his lap while watching movies

or sitting on his lap while in band practice

just sitting on his lap‼️‼️

braiding his hair !!

you search up YouTube tutorials in how to do different types of braids and hair styles

and if you have long hair then he can braid yours

also!! As a black curly hair girly I have this thing where I think that he doesn’t like people touching his hair, just like us curly haired people don’t like people touching our hair

so I think that if the reader has curly hair, then you guys both have mutual understanding on people violating your personal space and touching you hair, which not only brings you together but also helps you guys feel safe with one another

omg sorry for the rant lmao

Anyways

romcoms

I think he totally digs them but acts like he doesn’t

his fav romcom is ten things I hate about you

do you guys see the vision cuz I see the vision

he wants to be your Patrick and you are this kat

omg i just had a thought

what if he made a metal cover of can't take my eyes off of you 😭😭😭

DO YIU GUYS SEE THE VISION PLS TELL ME YOU SEE THE VISION

Halloween!!

you are nina the killer and he’s either Jeff the killer or Nina’s canon bf eyeless Jack ( creepypasta fandom unite!!!)

he want to stay in a watch horror movie but you want to go trick or treating

he gives and you both go trick or treating

he hates Christmas I cna feel it in my bones

bur if you love Christmas he will do a complete 180 and act like he enjoys it just a little bit

will loathe your celebrity crush with his entire soul heart and bones

like he will wish death upon them

and your all like “hunter it’s not like I’m gonna date Louis partridge he’s dating Olivia Rodrigo” and he’s all like “good cuz he can’t have you 😠😠”

has a crush on Elvira

I think that’s all the headcanonna I have in me 💀💀

[the-s1lly-corner]

Drawing each other (CRPs 2/2)

I'm probably going to have beaten the game by the time this posts but guys I need leshy follower you dont understand he looks so crinkly (referring to cult of the lamb) this part was originally going to have bloody painter and puppeteer but uhuh... too many characters for me and the need to keep playing COTL is smashing my desire to write

Characters: jeff the killer, nina the killer, laughing jack, eyeless Jack, ben Drowned,

Notes: reader is GN, admin does a coin toss on whether or not the reader is an artist, ben is strictly platonic the others can be seen as any relationship

CWs: none

JEFF THE KILLER

cannot draw for shit, when he passes his drawing of you to you it looks like a total mess- there was some effort though so you do your best to not laugh

though he seems to be a mostly good sport about it as long as youre not actually maliciously bashing his art

a little jealous that youre an artist and thus your piece turned out better than his but it soon shifts into him thinking over things hes good at to make himself feel better

in a "well you cant do (x) but i can so haha" kind of way

will get legitimately offended if you jokingly add something like stink lines on your drawing of him

NINA THE KILLER

draws a lot and adds a lot to her drawings: vibrant colors, stickers, glitter, patterned tapes- anything she can get her hands on really! obligatory her art resembles the old scene and emo art styles from back in the day

she doesnt care if your art of her isnt the best, shes going to love it either way and will keep it on her at all times

hypes you up and compliments the parts of your art she likes- whether it be coloring, anatomy, or general vibe shes going to find something to say in order to uplift you

generally enjoys spending any time with you so shes instantly going to take you up on the offer of drawing each other whenever you bring up the idea- or just drawing anything together

or doing anything together

LAUGHING JACK

cannot draw but does not care one bit, just as long as hes having fun

may or may not purposefully make his drawing of you look as diabolical as possible, you can tell hes up to something thanks to his hushed giggling- of course he doesnt draw anything offensive or hurtful

if youre aware youre not the best artist and often poke fun at it, you both end up just making fun of each others pieces

which sometimes turns into the both of you scribbling on your own pieces to add some exaggerated detail in order to push the joke further

EYELESS JACK

he sometimes draws in order to pass the time when he has nothing to do, sometimes you give him new art supplies when hes running low and you can afford it

or sometimes you just share, since you have your own

drawing him was... easy... given hes more than likely wearing his mask the whole time so you put in effort to add some details

jack on the other hand takes his time to get it down right

leads into you asking him how he can see given his obvious lack of eyes, which makes the atmosphere feel a little off but thats... another idea for another day..

gives genuine and sincere compliments when looking at your work, takes his time like he did when he drew you, in order to take it in

BEN DROWNED

i like to think he used to draw before he drowned and died, usually drawing stuff that matched his interests. the same thing over and over

though i can see him getting a little rusty due to not having the chance or means to draw... you can see him getting visibly upset while hes trying to finish his piece of you

youre not an artist yourself, so your drawing of him isnt the best either and it does make him feel a little better

"oh wow these are both shit" and youre both just giggling over your drawings of each other

its over if one of you gave the other too big of a forehead

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 70 – American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

I’m honestly not sure I ever would have gotten around to reading this on my own, but ended up buying it through the ‘blind date with a book’ thing a bookstore in New York was doing when I was visiting (incredible gimmick, for the record). The fact that it then took me a solid three months to actually finish probably tells you something about how genuinely difficult a read I found it. Not in the sense of being bad, but just legitimately difficult to stomach at points. Overall I’d call it a real triumph of literature.

Not that anyone doesn’t already know, but; the book is spent inside the head of Patrick Bateman, high-flying wall street trader and Harvard blueblood at the close of the Reagan era. Also a serial killer. The story is told as a series of more or less disconnected vignettes, jumping from dinner conversations at one exclusive bar or club or another to the brutal torture and murder of a sex worker to several pages of incredibly vapid pontification on Nina Simone’s discography. The story vaguely tracks Bateman growing ever-more alienated and out of control as the year goes on, but there’s very much not any real single narrative or cathartic climax here. - most stuff just happens (stuff that’s either incredibly tedious or utterly nauseating by turns but still just, stuff).

So yeah this is an intensely literary work (obviously), a word I’m here using to mean one that is as much about the form and style of the writing as about the actual events portrayed. Bateman is a monster, but more than that he’s just an utterly boring and tedious husk of a man, traits which are exaggerated to the point of being fascinating– if you told this story in conventional third person narration without all the weird asides, it would be a) like half as long and b) totally worthless. The tonal whiplash of going from an incredibly visceral depiction of Bateman cutting out the eyes of a homeless man to six (utterly insipid) pages on the merits of The Doors is the selling point here (well actually I think Ellis goes back to that specific well probably one time too many, but in general I mean).

Bateman is a tedious, unstable monster, but as far as the book has an obvious thesis it’s that he differs from the rest of his social milieu only in degree. A symptom of a fundamentally rotten society, not a heroic devil among sheep. The book’s climax, such as it is, involved Bateman getting into a drug-fueled gunfight with the NYPD, shooting multiple people in the middle of the street, and then stumbling home and leaving a rambling confession to every crime on his lawyer’s answering machine – but despite very clearly wanting and trying to get caught and face some sort of consequence or justice, people just refuse to believe that someone like him is capable of anything like that. (It’s not, it must be said, an especially subtle book).

There is, as far as I can recall, not a single character who gets enough screentime to give an idea of their personality who I’d call likeable. Sympathetic, sure, but that’s mostly because it’s pretty much impossible not to sympathize with someone getting horrifically tortured and torn apart (at one point a starving rat is involved). The upper crust of New York yuppie-dom is portrayed as shallow and vapid, casually bigoted towards quite literally everyone who isn’t identical to them, status-obsessed to the point of only being able to understand the world as a collection of markers of class and coolness, and totally incapable of real human connection. Bateman is a monster not because of any freak abnormality, but just because he takes all of that a few steps further than his coworkers.

The book is totally serious and straight-faced in its presentation, and absolutely never acknowledges any of the running gags that are kept up through it. Which shows impressive restraint, and also means that none of them exactly have a payoff or a punchline – it’s just a feature of the world that all the expensive meals at trendy restaurants everyone competes for tables at sound disgusting when you think about them for a moment, or that the whole class of wall street trader guy are so entirely interchangeable that ostensible close friends and coworkers constantly mistake each other for other traders and no one particularly cares. Or – and I’m taking this on faith because fuck knows I’ve got no idea what any of the brands people are wearing are – that the ruinously expensive outfits everyone spends so very much time and money on for every engagement all clash comically if you actually looked up what the different pieces looked like. The book’s in no way really a comedy, so the jokes sit a bit oddly, but they’re still overall pretty funny, at least to me.

I like to think I have something of a strong stomach for unpleasant material in books, but this was the first work of fiction that I had genuine trouble reading for content reasons in I can’t even remember. I’m not sure it’s exactly right to call the violence pornographic in a general sense, but as far as American Psycho goes the register and tone Bateman uses to describe fucking a woman and torturing her to death are basically identical (and told in similarly explicit detail), and all of Bateman’s sexual fantasies are more or less explicitly just porn scenes he wants to recreate, so. Regardless, the result’s pretty alienating in both cases – his internal monologue never really feels anything but detached and almost bored as he relays what he does, sound exactly as vapid and alienated as when he is carefully listing the exact brands and designers every person he ever interacts with is wearing at all times, or arguing over dinner reservations for hours on end with his friends and lovers (though both those terms probably deserve heavy airquotes around them). He legitimately sounds considerably more engaged when talking about arguing over sartorial etiquette. It all adds up to a really strong alienating effect.

Anyways, speaking of sex and violence – perhaps because my main exposure to the story before this was tumblr making memes out of scenes from the movie, but I was pretty shocked by just how explicitly awful Patrick is ‘on screen’. The horrible murder, sure, but also just the casual and frequent use of racist and homophobic slurs, the pathological misogyny, the total breakdown he has at the idea of a gay man being attracted to him and thinking he might reciprocate – all of these are entirely in character for an asshole Wall Street ‘80s Guy even if he wasn’t a serial killer, but it’s still oddly shocking at first to see it so thoroughly represented on the page. It makes how comparatively soft-pedaled the bigotry and just, awfulness, of villains in a lot of more modern books stand out a lot more, I suppose? I have read a lot of books that are in some sense About queerness and/or racism in the last year, and no one in any of them holds a candle to good old Patrick Bateman.

Part of that is just the book being so intensely of its time, I suppose. The New York of this book is very much one of the late ‘80s, incredible wealth living side by side with social rot and decay, crippling poverty everywhere and a society that has to a great degree just stopped caring. Absolutely none of which Bateman or any of his peers care one bit about, of course – they’re too busy showing off the latest walkmans and record players, going to the newest clubs, and just generally enjoying all the fruits of Reagan’s America. Recent history has made the fact that Bateman’s personal idol is Donald Trump almost too on the nose to be interesting, but in 1991 I’m sure it was a bit more subtle in how telling it was.

Anyway, yeah, horrifying and exhausting read, triumph of literature, my god did Easton Ellis hate America (this is a compliment). Now time to go watch the movie!